Meet Our Bellhop

Ovel Ortiz puts a smile on customer service

Service with a smile

Visitor assistant and bellhop Ovel Ortiz (with Waldron Smith of Stroudsburg) is the face of customer service at LVHHN.

A red SUV pulls up to LVH–Cedar Crest’s main entrance. As the vehicle’s passenger door swings open, 67, year-old Waldron Smith of Stroudsburg is met by visitor assistant Ovel Ortiz. “Welcome to Lehigh Valley Hospital,” Ortiz says. Dressed in a bellhop’s uniform, Ortiz extends his hand, slowly helps Smith out of the vehicle and guides him into a wheelchair.

Ortiz and our team of visitor assistants are a welcome sight to the hundreds of visitors at our hospitals each day. At LVH–Cedar Crest during construction alone, visitor assistants see more than 1,000 people and are responsible for directing traffic and parking more than 600 cars daily. With that much volume, Ortiz and our security personnel do their best to deliver service with a smile. “Now more than ever, patients and visitors need a helping hand,” says security supervisor John Hess. “In his role, Ovel can focus solely on customer service, allowing our other security officers and visitor assistants to focus on their important roles.” Customer service is just one of many ways colleagues hospital-wide are striving to create the ideal patient experience.

Ortiz started at LVHHN two years ago as a security officer, but his 25 years of prior security experience at a New York hospital made him a perfect fit for the bellhop role. It’s a new role here, but one that other hospitals have perfected. For example, at University of Chicago Medical Center, Sammy Hill is well-known for the customer service he brings to patients and visitors every day.

Ortiz usually is stationed right outside the revolving door, and he’s easily recognizable—he wears his bellhop uniform. (He’s in full dress for the winter and in a lighter white dress-shirt and striped slacks for the summer.) “People see the uniform and know I’m here to help,” Ortiz says. “I’ll help people in and out of their cars, walk them to their destination and hand out valet cards.”

Ortiz has touched many people simply by lending his helping hand and brightening their day. “Having someone there to assist my husband was a wonderful surprise,” says Kathryn Smith, Waldron’s wife. “He received a great welcome and great care.”

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